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First look and Drive - 2018 JL Rubicon,Sahara & Sports

Had the chance this week at work, drive a new JLU Rubicon as well as look around the Sports & Sahara's.. we had 7 arrive at the dealership ..

At first glance : I like the beefiness of some of the changes .. door Hinges, hood locks and hardware.. larger badges .. just overall beefy look, the hard top looks more refined, but from the back it looks to Mercedes
I dislike the added slope of the windshield, the fake vents on the front quarter panels

Cockpit - very space age and again beefy .. everything looks like its placed well, different then the JK that's for sure .. but looks and feels solid

Seats and overall interior - they made some very good changes to seat options, entertainment and storage in the rear ..

Drivability - the 8 speed transmission drives live a Grand Cherokee, with better acceleration , the brakes feel firmer, improved turn radius in both the 2 & 4 doors ,better approach and departure angles ... I Was even able to WalMart rate the Rubi by climbing over the snow piles that were hood high .. lol

This fall they will be releasing the power top and the 2.0 turbo/e-torque (hybrid) engine .. will be interested in digging into them

Overall I give the JL a 9 out of 10 for only spending an hour or so looking it over .. I love my job !!

I have been holding off on taking my jk in for the passenger bag recall to specifically drive a JL. Waited until the dealer had a few and made my appointment to wait for the recall to be done. Walked around a JL on the showroom floor and not one salesperson approached me (counted at least 6 salespersons), continued outside to look at the rest of the JLs and again not once salesperson approached me. Hmmmm guess I won't test drive one yet, spent the rest of the time looking at Rams. Probably better off not driving one that is what caused me to trade my 08 in on a 12 (drivetrain decided that move), just about have mine paid off and will start putting away a nest egg for when the JT makes its appearance. I do like the majority of the changes to them.

Its nice but too much car in it. I looked at a Sahara that was equipped like our 07 except it was an auto. It was $20k more then what we got ours for new. Seems like too much money for a wrangler. Too bad they don't offer a stripped down no frills version.

Its nice but too much car in it. I looked at a Sahara that was equipped like our 07 except it was an auto. It was $20k more then what we got ours for new. Seems like too much money for a wrangler. Too bad they don't offer a stripped down no frills version.

Between CAFE fuel efficiency standards and all of the required safety features, it's hard to escape the "car" parts. The cost to add all this stuff is less than the fines Jeep would have to pay for not including them. That front axle disconnect is a prime example. Have to squeeze every possible mile out of that gallon of gas.

But the one things that absolutely and utterly baffles me is that STUPID folding windshield! It adds NOTHING to the fuel efficiency. It certainly adds weight and cost. For a feature that almost NO ONE will actually use. The cost to engineer and implement that had to add at least $1k or more to each unit. Dumb.

Not going to lie, I've got one on order. I've done my research, did the test drive, talked it over with the wife and right now the '18 fits our lifestyle much more than the current set up. Don't get me wrong I love my coil-overs and all the other upgrades I've done over the past 6 years but it's time for some change and some practicality. My '46 is my weekend hobby these days and I can't justify the upkeep costs on the big Jeep and little Jeep these days, I mean just to have the coil-overs serviced I'm looking at $150-300 per corner, and that's only the beginning. The new Rubicon is going to run me just a shade over $44K but I'm not taking a lot of extras on it like automatic transmission, hard top, or color matched fenders, instead it's purpose is going to be as a tow rig for the little Jeep, an overlanding rig, and more importantly a daily driver that gets better than 15mpg. The improvements to the 3.6L are leaps and bounds better than what's in my '12 and definitely made the decision making that much harder and why going to the JL the better choice.

First look and Drive - 2018 JL Rubicon,Sahara & Sports

Originally Posted by briaros6

Not going to lie, I've got one on order. I've done my research, did the test drive, talked it over with the wife and right now the '18 fits our lifestyle much more than the current set up. Don't get me wrong I love my coil-overs and all the other upgrades I've done over the past 6 years but it's time for some change and some practicality. My '46 is my weekend hobby these days and I can't justify the upkeep costs on the big Jeep and little Jeep these days, I mean just to have the coil-overs serviced I'm looking at $150-300 per corner, and that's only the beginning. The new Rubicon is going to run me just a shade over $44K but I'm not taking a lot of extras on it like automatic transmission, hard top, or color matched fenders, instead it's purpose is going to be as a tow rig for the little Jeep, an overlanding rig, and more importantly a daily driver that gets better than 15mpg. The improvements to the 3.6L are leaps and bounds better than what's in my '12 and definitely made the decision making that much harder and why going to the JL the better choice.

Good Choice!! Did you buy an 2018 JKu or JLu?? Either way you’ll be very happy